

It must be a free choice by the player he must want to do it. A much better decision would have been to simply ramp up the difficulty in the late game, nudging players to go back and strive for those extra medals to unlock helpful upgrades.įor grinding side missions to be fun for the player, it must happen naturally. There simply has to be a better way to incentivize players to do the side missions than to lock the rest of the game until they do. I love the idea of rewarding medals that unlock crazy new upgrades. It turned fun, well-designed levels into repetitive acts of masochism that I only continued to attempt because I chose to review the game. This barrier drained the life out of my gameplay experience. After nearly 10 hours of customizing, planning, and grinding the same 10 levels until I wanted to scream, I was still three medals away from being able to experience the second half of JYDGE. Seriously, these missions usually aren’t something an average player can just go back and achieve with one extra try. Now players are forced to rehash the same levels over and over and over again until all the fun is sucked out of the experience. That is until the progression wall kicks in. The levels hardly ever last more than three minutes, and the fast-paced action keeps the players constantly moving to new areas. People usually buy a $15 digital game looking for a quick good time, especially in the shooter genre. First, it forces the player to soullessly grind what used to be quick, snappy, fun-filled levels. Placing such a high barrier of entry between Act 2 and Act 3 is a terrible design choice for a multitude of reasons.
JYDGE STEAM HOW TO
After a substantial amount of hours invested in JYDGE, I still don’t know how to plausibly achieve several medals.

The missions are definitely built to seem like optional endeavors, as some of them are just plain brutal. In their own description of the game, developer 10tons refers to the rewards for optional missions as “extra medals.” In reality, they are far from extra: they are required to beat the game. It may not sound like it if you haven’t played the game, but this progression wall is unforgivably hard to achieve. There is only a total of 60 possible medals available at this point. However, the first level of Act 3 requires 55 medals to unlock. At this point, the player has played 10 levels and has realistically earned somewhere between 30 and 40 medals. This system isn’t bad in a vacuum, but halfway through the game JYDGE begins to present massive progression walls that must be overcome in order to advance the game.īeating Act 2 marks the halfway point of the game. Instead of simply beating a level to advance to the next, players must earn a set number of medals to unlock levels. The variety of missions perfectly highlights the high customization, but it also leads to the huge problem of JYDGE. Soon, an additional “hardcore” difficulty mode is added, presenting three more unique missions to each level. Speed, power, stealth, protection, and more must be planned out in advance and then executed in the level. Each mission requires a different skillset and therefore a different combination of abilities.

In a level where the goal is to take down a boss, for example, the other missions may be to do so in 30 seconds or without being spotted. JYDGE embraces this idea, presenting players with situations that require careful planning and execution.Įach level includes a main mission which is required to progress, but it also presents two additional missions worth extra medals. Being able to see the environment in all directions allows for more tactical options than other angles can provide. Only four JYDGE upgrades and three gun upgrades can be equipped at once, so players must carefully formulate their strategy depending on the mission. As players earn medals, they unlock a vast array of upgrades to their gun, fire mode, and the JYDGE himself. The key factor of JYDGE is its deep customization. Players progress through levels to earn medals, completing missions such as killing enemies, saving citizens, and assassinating bosses. In this top-down shooter, you play as a robotic dealer of tough justice. The first half of this game deserves four stars, but one crucial decision by the developers completely destroyed the fun I had playing this game. Hitting multiple platforms last month, JYDGE is an enjoyable and incredibly customizable twin-stick shooter from indie developer 10tons. I have never had such mixed feelings for a game before JYDGE. Where to Buy it: Steam, Console digital shops Available On: Nintendo Switch, Xbox One, PlayStation 4, Windows, Mac, Linux
